Little Red and her Big Bad Wolf
by Sonicman66
Summary: Little Red Riding Hood. This tale has many variations, but there is always one constant-the Big Bad Wolf. But, what if the Wolf didn't have to be Little Red's enemy? What if he was her companion? Ruby Rose is a Huntress in training, with a Big Bad Beowolf by her side. But this strange companionship just might have some unforeseen consequences-for the both of them.
1. Prologue

On a cold, moonlit mountain, there stood a girl clad in red. Rose petals slowly scattered behind her as she stared at the grave before her. 'Summer Rose- Thus kindly I scatter' it read. After a few moments, she turned and began walking through the snow covered forest. Unbeknownst to her, dark creatures were watching and stalking her every move.

She stepped out of the dead forest into a clearing, and saw the many Beowolves that lay before her. There was a few tense moments before one rushed her and lunged- only to grasp rose petals. It looked up, seeing the girl high up in the air, silhouetted by the moon. She reached to her side and grabbed a small metal block, which quickly unfolded into a rifle. She pointed it at the Beowolf nearest to her, and pulled the trigger.

—

Ruby Rose stood amongst the limbs and shell casing scattered by her battle. She lifted her weapon, Crescent Rose, and folded it back into its rifle form. She began walking forwards, knowing where she was going. Before she got too far, however, she heard a small, pitiful whimpering. She looked around in an attempt to pinpoint the noise, and spotted a corpse not too far from her, slowly decaying into rose petals. Thinking the beast might be wounded and suffering, she walked over to it.

When she reached the Beowolf, she saw something that made her heart drop. Standing in the snow in front of the corpse, was a tiny, black pup. It was nudging what seemed to be its mother's corpse in a vain attempt to get her to move.

Ruby stared for a few moments more before she sighed and chambered a new round. The pup, hearing the slight noise, turned to stare at her as she pointed the barrel at it.

Ruby stared at the small, unmasked creature she was about to shoot. It barely looked a few weeks old. 'It doesn't matter. It's a Grimm, and it won't care if you killed its mother-'

That thought made her shake. She had taken this creature-no, this child's mother from it. 'He's like me now.' She thought.

With a trembling hand, she folded her weapon back into its compact form. She shakily reached out to the pup as it stared at her. It shied away from her hand, but she leaned in closer and rubbed its head. It paused in its retreat, and soon leaned into her hand, eager for more.

As Ruby stood there in the snow, petting this Beowolf, she let out a shaky chuckle before shivering. She stood and looked around to see that a light snowfall had begun, and the cold was beginning to get to her. She looked down at the small pup and after a moment's hesitation, made her decision. She picked it up and began walking away. "I always wanted a pet." She said. "But what to call you?"

Ruby stood before the bar run by the notorious man known to all as Junior. She steeled herself to enter, only to hear the shattering of glass. She looked up in surprise to see none other than the owner of the bar come sailing out of the window, closely followed by a familiar figure. "Yang?" She asked in surprise. "Is that you?"

"Oh, hey sis!" Yang greeted her with a smile on her face.

"What're you doing here?" She asked in confusion.

Her sister sighed. "It's a long story."

She smiled at Yang, and grew confused at the sudden terrified expression on her face. "Sis, look out!" She shouted. Ruby swiftly turned, Crescent Rose already unfolding to point at the hulking form behind her. She stared at the creature for a few seconds before she sighed in relief and collapsed her weapon. "Jeez Yang, don't scare me like that." She said, turning back to her sister.

"Uh sis? Why haven't you shot the Beowolf behind you yet?"

She looked at her with a horrified expression. "Shoot Fenris? Never! He's helped me out more times than I care to count!"

Her sister stared at her in confusion. "Fenris? Wait, you named that thing? Its not a pet!"

The beast, known as Fenris gave a low growl. "Of course not! Fenris is my companion, not a pet."

"How did you manage to find a friendly Beowolf?"

She sighed. "It's a long story."


	2. Chapter 1

Ruby stood before the bar run by the notorious man known to all as Junior. She steeled herself to enter, only to hear the shattering of glass. She looked up in surprise to see none other than the owner of the bar come sailing out of the window, closely followed by a familiar figure. "Yang?" She asked in surprise. "Is that you?"

"Oh, hey sis!" Yang greeted her with a smile on her face.

"What're you doing here?" She asked in confusion.

Her sister sighed. "Its a long story."

She smiled at Yang, and grew confused at the sudden terrified expression on her face. "Sis, look out!" She shouted. Ruby swiftly turned, Crescent Rose already unfolding to point at the hulking form behind her. She stared at the creature for a few seconds before she sighed in relief and collapsed her weapon. "Jeez Yang, don't scare me like that." She said, turning back to her sister.

"Uh sis? Why haven't you shot the Beowolf behind you yet?"

She looked at her with a horrified expression. "Shoot Fenris? Never! He's helped me out more times than I care to count!"

Her sister stared at her in confusion. "Fenris? Wait, you named that thing? Its not a pet!"

The beast, known as Fenris gave a low growl. "Of course not! Fenris is my companion, not a pet."

"How did you manage to find a friendly Beowolf?"

She sighed. "Its a long story."

—

Ruby Rose stood in the back of a small Dust store, listening to music. Without warning, she felt a hand grab her by the shoulder, and she turned her head. Standing there was a man in a black suit, complete with black hat, wearing a red tie and sunglasses. The man pointed at his ears, and she took off her headphones. "Yes?" She asked.

"I said, put your hands in the air! Now!" The man yelled.

"Are you…Robbing me?" She asked.

"Yes!" The man shouted.

"Oh!"

Without warning, she kicked the would-be robber in the chest, sending him flying to the front of the shop. A few moments later, a new goon came to her, pointing a gun at her and yelling "Freeze!"

—

The goon flew through the window of the Dust shop with Ruby's feet planted firmly on his chest. She slowly rose, Crescent Rose unfolding as she did. She looked into the shop to see four men staring at her from the shattered window. She gave a fierce grin and twirled her weapon above her head before stabbing it into the ground, pointed at the enemy. She turned her headphones off shortly and put them away shortly after. The man in the middle, probably their leader, sent the remaining thugs at her with a nod of the head. The three men rushed out the front door, swords at the ready. The first one reached her and swung his blade down, only for her to jump, hold herself up on top of her weapon, spin around once and kick him in the face. The force of her kick was enough to send him both of them into the air, Ruby landing with her scythe behind her. She heard the other two men approaching her and fired a single shot, whirling around to send the second man flying and using the force to slam into the man with the back of her scythe.

A fourth thug appeared, wielding a machine gun, and opened fire. Ruby fired Crescent Rose three times, using each shot, along with her Semblance, to dodge in a flurry of rose petals. With the third and final shot, she swept the man's legs from under him, stabbing her scythe into the ground and using the momentum to spin around and smack him with it. He landed next to the leader, who looked at the fallen thugs with a disappointed look, saying "You were worth every cent. Truly, you were." Sirens blared in the distance as he removed the cigar from his mouth. "Well, Red, I think we can all say its been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd love to stick around…" He leveled his cane at her. "I'm afraid this-" A small cap came off the top of his cane, revealing a small scope. "Is where we part ways." He said. The statement was followed by an explosive shot, prompting Ruby to launch herself into the air to dodge. She landed hard, and the man was no longer in front of her. She looked around only to see him climbing up a ladder a ways away. She scowled, brought two fingers to her lips, and blew.

The whistle rang throughout the night, and as it tapered off, a howl could be heard. Within moments, a dark shape came hurtling out of an alleyway towards her. She pointed her finger at Roman as the beast approached. Right before collision with Ruby, the beast jumped at the fleeing criminal.

Roman turned as he climbed, saw the dark creature flying towards him and gave a startled cry. He hopped up the last few feet of the ladder and looked down to see a Beowolf wrenching the metal ladder from its place.

Ruby chased after the fleeing criminal and launched herself up to the roof as the Beowolf climbed. She landed and shouted "Hey!" At the retreating criminal.

The man stopped at the edge of roof, muttering "Persistent." A drop-ship suddenly rose in front of the man, focusing its spotlight on Ruby as the man got on. He turned to Ruby, shouting out over the noise made by the craft, "End of the line, Red!" He pulled out a red Dust crystal and lobbed it at her feet, pointing his cane at it. He fired, and three things happened at once. Ruby uttered a sharp whistle, a black blur tackled her from the side, and a barrier appeared in front of the crystal, shielding them from the blast.

A woman with a tattered purple and black cape stood with a riding crop in hand and two fingers pointed at the drop-ship. A Huntress. She adjusted her glasses and sent a wave of purple projectiles out, the force of them rocking the ship. She sent an orb of purple energy above the ship, which soon dispersed and formed a dark storm cloud above it.

The Huntress brought her arm down, causing the cloud to rain icicles on the ship. Another woman walked out of the ships cockpit to face her. The new woman brought her hands up, flames trailing on then, and launched a fireball at the Huntress. She put up a shield, which the fireball splattered on. A few drops of something landed at her feet, and the woman raised her hand, and the drops exploded. The Huntress backflipped out of the way, and raised her crop. The shattered pieces of the roof glowed purple and stopped in midair, before forming into a spear shape. She sent the spear of rubble at the ship, only to have the woman fire off several fireballs that destroyed most of the rubble. The remains reformed, and struck at the ship, only to be deflected by the roof of it.

The spear reformed and separated into three separate spears, whirling towards the ship. The woman inside raised her arms, and three small circles of runes appeared around her as she threw her arms out, causing an explosion that caused the rocks to drop harmlessly to the ground. The Huntress heard bullets fired, and saw the girl on the ship deflect each one. Five red orbs appeared on the ground around the Huntress, and she dove forward as they exploded. She stood up and watched as the doors on the ship closed and it flew away. She turned with a scowl which quickly turned into a look of surprise. There, not ten feet away, stood an unmasked Beowolf. And cradled in its arms was Ruby Rose, her weapon in its rifle form. "You're a Huntress….Can I have your autograph?" She asked gleefully. The woman simply stared at her in shock.

Ruby sat with her head held low, a single light illuminating the dark room. Behind her paced Glynda Goodwitch, the Huntress who had scared off the thugs. "I hope you realize that your actions won't be taken lightly young lady," she said. "You put yourself and others in grave danger-"

"They started it!" interrupted Ruby.

"-and you had the idiocy to bring a live Beowolf into the city!" She continued, staring over at the motionless creature in the corner. It had been chained to the wall, with a steel collar clamped around its neck, and it was only through Ruby's insistence that it had been allowed to live at all. It had subsequently laid down and seemingly gone to sleep. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that thing is?"

"Hey! Fenris wouldn't hurt a hair on anybody's head unless I told him to!"

Glynda ignored her, and walked in front of her to stand in front of the door. "If it were up to me, you'd be sent home...With a pat on the back," she continued. Ruby looked up hopefully. "And a slap on the wrist." Glynda continued. She brought her riding crop down on the table in front of Ruby, causing her to jump back with a short yip. The noise roused the unmoving Fenri, causing him to look up and growl at the Huntress. Her eyes flicked to it once, before continuing, "But...There is someone here who would like to meet you."

Ruby blinked in surprise. Glynda moved out of the doorway, eying Fenris in the corner. From the darkness of the outside hallway walked a man with grey hair, a mug, and a plate of cookies. "Ruby Rose." He said. "You-" He leaned in to look at her more closely. "-have silver eyes." Ruby mumbled to in confusion and discomfort. "So, where did you learn to do this?" He asked, nodding his head at the Scroll Glynda was holding. Displayed across it was Ruby fighting the robbers.

"S-Signal Academy?"

"They taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"

"Well, one teacher in particular."

"I see." Ozpin slid the plate of cookies in front of Ruby, and she looked at him suspiciously before grabbing a cookie and taking a bite. She paused for a moment before she began shoveling the baked goods into her mouth as fast as she could. "Its just that I've only seen one other scythe wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow-"

"Ooh, das mah uncle-" Ruby interrupted. She swallowed the cookies still in her mouth and continued, "Sorry. That's my uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing, and now I'm all like-" She began performing karate chops, making various noises as she did.

"So I've noticed." Ozpin set his mug on the table before asking, "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors? With a pet Beowolf, no less."

Ruby frowned at him as Fenris gave a low growl. "Hey! Fenris isn't a pet, he's my companion!"

Ozpin eyed the Beowolf before correcting himself. "My apologies, a Beowolf companion."

Ruby nodded her head in satisfaction. "Well...I want to be a Huntress." She said.

"You want to slay monsters? Even though you have one as a companion?"

"Fenris isn't a monster! Monsters hurt innocent people, and ruin lives. He would never do that to anyone. But..I do want to fight monsters. I only have two years of training left at Signal, and then I'm going to apply at Beacon. See, my sister is starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress because I wanna help people, and my parents always taught us to help others, so I thought 'Eh, well, might as well make a career out of it'-" She giggled breathlessly. "-I mean the police are alright, but the Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting, cool and just-Gyaaaahaha, you know?" She asked.

Glynda stared at her worriedly as Ozpin spoke. "Do you know who I am?" He asked.

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon."

He hmphed. "Hello."

"Nice to meet you." She said. Fenris gave a small yip from his place in the corner. "Fenris says hi as well."

Ozpin glanced at the Beowolf before asking Ruby, "You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything."

He looked over at Glynda and she rolled her eyes with a soft quiet sound of annoyance. "Well, okay." Ruby's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in joy.

Ruby grimaced in pain as her sister hugged her. "Oh, I can't believe my baby sister's going to Beacon with me. This is going to be the best day ever!" Yang said, squeezing even tighter.

"Please...Stop.." Ruby wheezed out.

Yang let go and hopped back, bouncing in excitement. "But I'm so proud of you!"

"Really sis, it was nothing. Me and Fenris just stopped a little robbery-"

"And that!" Yang interrupted her, looking at the hulking figure standing behind her sister. Fenris' red eyes stared at her. "I can't believe they actually let you bring him! Ozpin must really be a nice guy. And what do you mean, nothing? You were incredible! Everyone at Beacon is gonna think you're the bees knees!"

"I don't wanna be the bees knees, ok? I don't wanna be any kind of knees, I just wanna be a normal girl, with normal knees."

Yang looked at her in disbelief. "Whats with you? Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited, I just-" She sighed. "I got moved ahead two years. I just don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

Yang walked around to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "But you are special.."

She was cut off by a nearby hologram, which began reading a news report. It ended in the middle, as it suddenly switched to show Glynda Goodwitch. "Hello welcome to Beacon." The hologram said.

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

"You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and, as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect out world."

The hologram faded, and Ruby gasped. "Oh wow." She ran over to the window and stared out, Fenris following her. "Look! You can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't too far after all."

Yang grabbed Ruby by the shoulder softly. "Beacon's our home now." she said. She was startled by a nudge at her side. She looked over to see Fenris' head at her arm, and shouted "Aw come here you!" She wrapped her arm around the Beowolf's neck and pulled him close.

A loud gurgling sounded throughout the ship, followed by a groan. The sisters looked to see a boy with blonde hair holding a hand over his mouth. The boy rushed past them, desperately covering his face. "Well, guess the view's not for everyone."

"It was a nice moment while it lasted."

"I wonder who we're gonna meet?"

"Ugh, I just hope they're better than Vomit Boy." Ruby trailed off, only to look down at her sister's feet. "Oh gross, Yang you have puke on your shoe!" Yang began expressing her disgust as Ruby and Fenris pulled themselves away, their protests echoing throughout the ship.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.  
**A/N: Bit of a short chapter, but I'll hopefully make up for it on the next. This chapter will feature some OCs, but they won't be a main feature for this fic. Might show up every once in a while. They will, however, be in another fic **_**if I ever get around to it dangit.**_

Ruby stood staring in awe at Beacon Academy. Her sister had already abandoned her to wander with Fenris, saying she had to catch up with friends. After a few more moments of awe, she shook her head. 'Gotta find the dorms.' She began walking in a random direction, narrowly avoiding a very crabby looking girl pulling a cart filled with luggage. She heard a loud cry, and saw a blonde boy running towards her, brandishing a sword. Thinking quickly, she readied Crescent Rose in its rifle form and smacked the boy across the face. He went down, and tried to rise, only to meet the barrel of Crescent Rose. "Who are you, and why are you trying to attack me?" She asked.

"Woah woah, I wasn't attacking you! I was trying to save you from the Beowolf that is right behind you!"

She sighed. "I don't need protection from Fenris."  
"Wait, is that thing your pet or something?" The boy asked in confusion.

Fenris growled and Ruby answered, "He prefers 'companion'." She folded her weapon back and placed it on the magnetic holster on her back. She stuck her hand out. "I'm Ruby."

The boy took her hand and rose. "Jaune."

She frowned at him. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

After the third attempt on Fenris' life, Ruby had been forced to do something the Beowolf hated. She had to put on his leash. And he was being difficult about it. As she struggled to hold him still so she could put his collar on, she pleaded with her companion, "Come on Fenris! I know you don't like it, but people will try to kill you without it!" The Beowolf ceased its struggling and put its head forward with a small whine. She put on his collar, a bright red thing with roses covering it, and hooked the leash on. "There. That should do it." She looked over at Jaune, who was laughing in both evident confusion and humor. "What are you laughing at, Vomit Boy?"

He stopped laughing and glared at her indignantly. "Hey, motion sickness is a much more common problem then people let on!"

She chuckled and started walking. "Sorry, it's just the first thing that came to mind."  
"Oh yeah? Well what if I called you…Uh…Wolfy?"

Ruby stopped and stared at him. "Really? That's the best you could come up with? Wolfy?" Jaune sighed and hung his head in shame. After walking for a little longer, dragging Fenris the entire way, she reached behind her and grabbed Crescent Rose. "So…I've got this thing." She said, as she unfolded it to its scythe form.

Jaune hopped back in surprise shouting "Woah! Is that a scythe?"

"It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle." She said with pride, raising her weapon in the air.

"Uh, what?"  
"It's also a gun."  
"Oh. That's cool!"

"So, you have a sword?"

"Oh, yeah." He hesitantly unsheathed the blade and unfolded his shield/scabbard. "I have a shield too."

Ruby looked at the weapon with interest. "Oooh. So, what do they do?" she asked, reaching out to touch the symbol on the shield. The object began folding and unfolding, bouncing around and forcing Jaune to try and catch it.

"T-The shield gets smaller so, when I get tired of carrying it, I can just...put it away."

"But-Wouldn't it weigh the same?"  
"Yeah, it does." The boy said, slumping in defeat.

Ruby gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, I guess I did go a little overboard in designing it.

"Wait, you made that?" Jaune asked in disbelief.

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?"

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."  
"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me, heh. Well I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."  
Jaune looked up with a halfhearted grin. "Yeah…the classics…"  
"So why'd you try to kill Fenris back there?" She said, pointing to her companion. Said companion looked at Jaune and growled.  
He sighed. "Ok, I saw a girl with a Beowolf behind her, was it really that bad of a reaction? Besides, two other people did the same thing!"  
"Hmm. Hey where are we going?"

"Oh I don't know. I was following you." He looked over at Ruby to see her staring at him in disbelief. "You think there might be some kind of directory? Or maybe a food court? Or some kind of…recognizable landmark?" Ruby chuckled at him. "Is that a no?"  
"Heh, that's a no."

Ruby, Jaune and Fenris continued to walk around the campus until they eventually followed the flood of students to the auditorium. Ruby doubted, however, that they would allow a Beowolf inside the crowded room, or that there wouldn't be more people reacting violently to his presence. So, instead, she waved goodbye to Jaune and wandered off to explore the campus. After a few minutes of wandering around, not really paying attention, she slammed face first into something. She fell to the ground, holding her nose. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry." Came a voice. Ruby looked up to see a very tall girl with black hair staring down at her worriedly. The girl quickly helped her up, apologizing profusely. "Sorry, are you hurt?"  
Ruby waved her off. "No no, I'm fi-" She paused as she felt something flowing over her fingers. She raised one up to her face, staring at the blood on it in confusion.

The sight of the blood on Ruby's fingers sent the girl into another flurry of apologies as she pulled a napkin out of her pocket. She quickly handed it to Ruby who held it up to her nose. "Sorry, really, I didn't notice you, and my Semblance activates without me knowing and I am just so sorry-"

"Hey, it's fine, I should have been watching where I was going. Anyways, I'm Ruby." She held out her free hand for a handshake.

"Rose." Said the other girl, taking her hand.

Ruby looked on in confusion. "How did you know my last name?"  
It was the girl's turn to be confused. "That's my name."

"Your name is Rose?"

"Well, my real name is Sulian, but everybody calls me Rose. That's your last name?"  
"Yeah."

"Well isn't that just the strangest coincidence? Two Roses in one school, and they just happen to meet on the first day. " A new voice rang out. A woman suddenly appeared right next to Rose. This woman was also black haired, but was much shorter. She had this sly grin on her face, orange eyes, and a fox tail. A Faunus. "Really, Rose, you've got to get that Semblance of yours under control."

"Sorry Vixen, but it activates at any physical contact. You know that!" Rose said with a hurt expression.

The girl, apparently named Vixen, lost her grin and looked at the girl sadly. "Yeah, I know." She turned to Ruby, still staring at her in shock. Her eyes darted to Fenris at her side and widened. "Holy shit girl, you have a pet Beowolf?"

Fenris growled at her and Ruby sighed. "No, he's my companion. Why does everybody call him my pet?"  
"He's got a collar around his neck and you're holding a leash. Do the math."

"I guess that makes sense, but still. So your name is Vixen?"  
"Sure is. And you are Ruby. Oh and yes, the tail is real, I am a Faunus, if you are racist, just walk away now."  
Ruby shook her head. "Oh no, I don't have any problems with Faunus, I honestly thin the animal parts are sort of cool."

Vixen smirked. "Good. If you did, I probably would have had to kill you." At Ruby's shocked face she laughed and said, "Kidding."

"Sorry Ruby, but we've really got to go." Rose said. She quickly ran off, leaving Ruby and Vixen to stare at her vanishing form.

Vixen sighed and Ruby turned to her. The woman was staring worriedly at Rose. "That girl."  
"What's with her?" Asked Ruby.

"She's…Not good with people. She had a few bad experiences as a kid. People can be cruel sometimes." She looked over at Ruby and smiled. "But that doesn't matter right now. Nice meeting you Ruby." As she spoke, her body slowly vanished until only her grin was left. Ruby stared at the spot where she vanished before continuing on her way.

Several hours later, Ruby sat next to Fenris under a tree not far from Beacon, staring up at the night sky. "Well boy, that was a pretty good first day. Made a friend, maybe three, didn't explode." The Beowolf let out a small noise, almost a laugh. She turned to him and indignantly cried "Hey, it could happen!" Fenris' strange laugh continued and she turned with a huff. She heard a soft scuffling next to her but refused to move. In the corner of her eye, she saw Fenris leaning in closer to her. She heard his sniffing right next to her ear and let out a laugh as began licking her face. "Blech, Grimm slobber! Down boy!" After a few more licks he backed off, red teeth showing in a doggy grin. She reached up and patted him on the head, looking out at the school. "This should be a great year."

Ruby stood in a grey room. She had no idea where she was, only that everything looked…dull. Like it should have been white, but it had been drained. After a few minutes, she began to hear a strange noise behind her. It sounded like someone panting. She turned around, only to recoil in shock at what she saw. It was herself, but with a few changes.

The other Ruby's hood was torn, and she had a manic look in her eyes, which were blood red. From her head sprouted a pair of black wolf ears, and her nails had elongated into claws. The other's eyes met hers for a few moments, and then she leapt, claws aiming for Ruby's throat and her blood-red teeth bared.

Ruby awoke with a scream. She looked around only to see grass and the short distance away. There was no feral, monstrous Ruby. "It was just a dream." She sighed in relief. She looked at her companion, who had woken with a start. He stared at her in that worry that only dogs and wolves could convey. "I'm fine Fenris, don't worry about it." He watched for a few more moments before letting out a doggy sigh and lying back down. Ruby looked back towards Beacon, seeing students begin to empty from the buildings.

Suddenly, the voice of Glynda Goodwitch rang out. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, all first year students, report to Beacon Cliff immediately."  
Ruby jumped up. "Fenris, we gotta go! Initiation is starting!" She forced the collar back onto her companion's head, grabbing the leash and rushing off. As she ran in the direction she thought the cliff was in, unbeknownst to her, a small black tuft of fur began to sprout from her head.


	4. Chapter 3

Ruby arrived a while later at Beacon Cliff, panting in exhaustion, Fenris trailing behind her. Professor Ozpin was standing on the cliff, giving some preparatory speech for the initiation and going over how teams would be organized. Ruby listened intently, as who her partner was would help shape her entire career as a Huntress. When he finally said the method of partner selection, Ruby gaped at him in shock. "What?!"

Her mind still reeling from the fact that any and all plans of partnering up with her sister or Jaune has been ruined by the fact that her partner would be dictated by, basically, sheer dumb luck and the influence of her landing strategy, she stepped on to the large metal platform. _'I might get stuck with somebody I can't work with!' _She thought, panicking slightly.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a snuffling at her side, and looked down to see Fenris had joined her on the platform. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly to calm herself down. _'It doesn't matter who I get partnered with, we'll be together for the rest of our lives. If I don't like them or they don't like me, we'll just have to make it work.' _

"Now, take your positions." Her eyes snapped open. Ozpin had continued speaking through panic, and she had missed the instructions. She looked around in surprise and watched as other students were flung from their launch pads in the line, until it was her turn. She looked down to see that her launch pad was larger than the rest, most likely to accommodate for Fenris' added weight.

The machinery below her ticked, slowly at first, but quickly speeding up. Her eyes widened as she realized that she would be launched immediately. She hastily tried to prepare herself for liftoff, only to be launched in the middle of her preparations.

She tumbled through the air, end over end and quickly righted herself. She reached to her back and pulled out Crescent Rose, unfolding it to its rifle form. She fired a few shots to slow herself down, and gave a high pitched whistle.

Behind her, closer to the treetops, Fenris, still flying, heard the whistle. He caught a tree branch, pulled himself up on it, and looked around, listening and looking for Ruby. When a second whistle was blown, he turned his head towards the noise, seeing that red blur flying through the air. He pressed himself down onto the branch, bunched his muscles, and _leapt_, shattering the branch below him.

Ruby continued to fly after the second whistle, hearing a slight crack in the distance. Within moments, she was tackled mid-air by Fenris. She looked up at her companion with a grin, which only grew wider as he maneuvered her onto his back. She laughed into the wind as her companion hit the treetops and began leaping from branch to branch. Eventually they slowed, and descended to the floor.

Fenris gently lowered Ruby to the floor, and she took in her surroundings. She was in the middle of the forest, trees surrounding her. She quickly picked a random direction and ran in it, Fenris running beside her. _'Gotta find Yang. Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, gotta find-'_"Yang! Yaaang?" She shouted. _'Oh, this is bad, this is really bad- Oh, what if I can't find her? What if someone finds her first?' _She looked up, a new thought entering her head. _'Well, there's always Jaune. He's nice. He's funny!'_ Her expression drooped. _'I don't think he's very good in a fight though.'_ She thought for a moment more. _'What about Vixen, or Rose? They both seemed nice! But Vixen was a little…'_ She remembered the way Vixen had made herself vanish, and shuddered. _'Creepy. And Rose seemed sorta…Off.'_ She shook her head. _'Well, those are my only options. Unless I want to be partnered with a complete stranger-'_ she was cut off by Fenris growling beside her. She stopped to look at him. His ears were standing straight up, his teeth were bared, and he was staring off to the north, sniffing.

Ruby stared at him in confusion for a few moments before she heard it- A distant howling. _'A Beowolf.' _With a fierce grin, she unfolded Crescent Rose to its scythe form and took off, Fenris letting out a challenging howl before following her. _'Well, I might not be able to find a partner, but at least I can kill some Grimm first!'_

Weiss Schnee was having a relatively average day. She had arrived at Beacon with little trouble, rested for the night, and begun her initiation. She had been in the forest for not even a minute before the Grimm had shown up. She had dispatched the first few easily enough, but they had kept coming, and she had ended up having to fight an entire pack. She stood there, four Beowolves shuffling around her in a circle, Myrtenaster held in front of her. _'Remember your training, Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward-Not that forward!' _She went through the motions of preparing for yet another attack on the hopefully final four enemies. Her eyes narrowed as she attempted to calm her breathing. _'Slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and-´_ As one Beowolf rushed her, she readied her blade to strike, the barrel spinning before landing on the red and flooding the sword with Dust. "Now!" She lunged forward, plunging the blade into the black beast's chest. The Dust activated as soon as her blade made contact, a fiery explosion killing the Grimm instantly.

She drew her blade from the Beowolf's burnt chest with a satisfied smirk, which quickly dropped as she heard the sound of the rest of the pack rushing her. She turned, unleashing a flurry of strikes at the nearest Beowolf, before jumping backwards to avoid a swing by another. As she landed, she activated one of her Glyphs, allowing her to skate along the ground like it was ice. She dashed past one Beowolf, neatly ducking under its claw and stabbed it underneath its arm, blood spurting from the wound. She slid past two more Grimm, and then leapt and stabbed another in the eye. Quickly, she turned, the barrel on her rapier spinning again, this time landing on the blue setting, and thrust it into the ground. The Dust triggered, causing a wave of icicles to form and stab the two final Grimm.

She sighed in relief as she watched the corpses fade away, and kneeled in exhaustion. She had used up quite a bit of her Dust supplies and had needed to use her Semblance many times during the fight. She sat there, panting slightly, and placed Myrtenaster back in its holster at her side. As soon as her hand left the hilt, however, she heard a low growling behind her. Her eyes widened, and she turned to see a Beowolf, much larger than the others, looking directly in her eyes. An Alpha. It raised its claw and Weiss stared, frozen. _'This is how I die.'_ She thought. Just as the Alpha was about to bring its claw down, a howl rang out nearby. Its head abruptly jerked to the source of the sound, and it stared at the now rustling brush. Without any further warning, a red blur came flying out, rose petals steaming behind it, and shot past the Alpha and sliced its leg off with some form of blade. The Alpha howled in pain, only for another blur, this one solid black, to slam into it. Weiss watched in awe as the new creature quickly and brutally bit down on the Alpha's neck. It continued to squirm for a few moments before it eventually went slack. The newcomer raised its head up and turned to look at Weiss. She stood in shock and quickly redrew her blade. It was another Beowolf, but this one seemed different. It was unmasked. She readied herself to kill this strange Grimm, before a voice called out "Hey!"

She turned to the voice and saw a girl standing there. Instinctively, she looked at her face. Silver eyes met blue, and a partnership was made.

"Hey!" Ruby shouted at the girl. "Were you about to try and kill him after he just saved your life?"

The girl looked flustered. "It's a Beowolf! You know, a Grimm? The very thing that we are supposed to hunt?"

"Yeah, well this one is nice! He's been my companion for half a year! He'd never hurt a fly, unless I told him to, and I am getting just a little sick of everybody I meet trying to kill him!"

The girl recoiled at her sudden outburst. She looked off to the side and sighed. "Yes, well…How was I supposed to know that it wasn't a threat?"

Ruby sighed angrily. "Maybe the fact that he was following me, or maybe how he killed an Alpha Beowolf, or maybe how he didn't attack you or do anything other than _look_ at you?" She shouted.

The girl huffed and re-sheathed her sword. "It doesn't matter. We made eye contact, right?" She looked at Ruby for confirmation, and she nodded. "Then we're partners. And that means we're going to have to find the temple and retrieve a relic."

Ruby, calming down now, grinned sheepishly. "And where exactly would that be? I sort of…Didn't hear what Ozpin said."

The girl gave her a deadpan glare. "You weren't paying attention?" Ruby shrugged her shoulders and the girl sighed. "This is a horrible way to start my career as a Huntress." She muttered. "The temple is in the north, and we have to retrieve a relic from it. Got it?"

"Got it!"

"Good." The girl looked up, attempting to determine which way was north. "What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose, and this is my companion Fenris." She said, gesturing towards the black beast standing over the quickly fading Alpha Beowolf corpse.

The girl turned back to look at her and said, "Weiss Schnee." Her eyes flicked to Fenris for a moment. "Just…Make sure you keep that thing under control." She turned and started heading north.

Ruby smiled and appeared next to Weiss in a flurry of rose petals. "Can do!" She cheerfully said, before dashing off, petals streaming behind her. Weiss looked on in surprise at the red trail left behind, and recoiled as Fenris' black head appeared at her side. He turned to her and looked her in the eyes for a moment before dashing off to follow the trail. She shook her head before breaking into a sprint after them. _'This should make for an interesting career.'_

Eventually Ruby slowed down enough for Weiss to catch up, and they proceeded towards the temple with little incident. Ruby attempted to strike up a conversation with her new partner, but every attempt was rewarded only with a glare or a huff. After several unsuccessful attempts, she stopped trying, and settled on petting Fenris while she walked. After a few more minutes of walking through the dense forest, they reached a clearing. As they stepped out into the sunlight, a girlish scream rang throughout the forest. All three of them looked up in surprise. "Oh no, somebody's in trouble! Should we try and help them?" Ruby asked her Weiss.

"Whoever they are, they can probably handle themselves." she replied, continuing to walk. Ruby frowned, before she spotted a structure in the distance. "Hey Weiss, do you think that could be the temple?" she asked, pointing at it.

Weiss looked at where she was pointing and squinted. "Only one way to find out." She said. They began running towards the structure, and soon they could make out two figures standing at the temple. As they got closer, Ruby recognized one of them and broke into a sprint with a joyful shout, leaving the other two behind. "Yang!" she cried as she slammed into her sister.

Yang reeled back from the sudden impact and grabbed Ruby in a hug. "Whoa! Hey there Ruby! How's it going?" she asked.

Ruby pulled back and smiled at her. "It's been ok. A few people tried to kill Fenris, but that happens everywhere we go."

"Ahem." Ruby turned her head to the second figure as she cleared her throat. "Shouldn't we be bringing the relic back?" she said, holding up a large golden chess piece.

"Oh! Right, sorry. Blake, this is Ruby, my sister. Ruby, this is Blake Belladonna, my new partner!"

Ruby grinned at Blake. "Nice to meet you!" Blake nodded at her, and her eyes widened as she spotted something over Ruby's shoulder. Ruby watched in confusion as Blake reached for her weapon before her eyes widened in realization. "If it's a single Beowolf running towards us with a girl with white hair, please don't shoot." Blake looked at her, confusion evident. "Just let them reach us and I'll explain." With some trepidation, Blake lowered her hand from the hilt of her weapon.

When the two figures finally reached them, Ruby began introductions. "Yang, Blake, this is Weiss, my partner. Weiss, these are Yang and Blake, my sister and her partner. Blake, this is Fenris, my companion." At Blake's raised eyebrow, she shot back at her, "Yes, I do realize he is a Beowolf and that they are Grimm, but he's been with me for over half a year, and I'm fine."

Blake looked over Fenris, who currently had his head underneath Ruby's arm and was staring at her, and sighed. "If you say so. Just-" Whatever she had to say was cut off by a loud scream. They all looked up to see a boy- Jaune- flying above them, arms flailing in panic. Quickly, Ruby brought two fingers to her mouth and blew a short note, pointing at the falling boy with her other hand as she did. Fenris turned and leapt forward, catching Jaune and bringing him back to the group. "Wow Ruby, this guy sure can catch!" he said, relieved.

Ruby smiled and began, "I trained him we-" only to be cut off by a loud "Yeehaw!"

Again the group turned towards the sound in shock and spotted a ginger haired girl _riding _an Ursa into the clearing before it collapsed, dead. "Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked in disbelief as the girl dashed over and grabbed another relic.

"That looks like fun!" Ruby exclaimed. She brought a hand up to her chin and thought briefly. "Maybe I could get Fenris to let me ride him sometimes…"  
Yet another new distraction tore Ruby from her horsey-ride related thoughts, and the group turned to witness a red-headed girl sprinting away from a Deathstalker. "Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" asked Blake. Almost in unison, the students all drew there weapons as the girl and the Grimm drew closer.

The Deathstalker paused as it came within range of the group. It looked over the multiple well-armed students, and seemed to consider the threat. As the panting girl reached the temple, the Deathstalker reared its head back and _screeched_. All of the students covered their ears in pain, and Fenris' lowered to the side of his head and he whined. The Deathstalker's screech echoed throughout the forest, and there was a brief moment of silence. It was broken by dozens of answering howls, growls and other noises from the forest. Within moments, a veritable horde of various Grimm broke through the tree line. Beowolves, Boarbatusks, and Ursai, oh my.

Staring out at the open sea of black fur and white bone, a toothy grin came to Ruby's face. "You four take the Deathstalker," she said to the four newcomers. "Me, Weiss, Blake and Yang will handle the horde." Jaune nodded at her and rushed towards the Deathstalker, the other three following him closely. Ruby turned to the team she had decided on, smile still on her face, and said "Let's kill em."


	5. Chapter 4

Ruby stood in the clearing with a fierce grin on her face as the horde of Grimm drew closer and closer. She had Crescent Rose held in front of her, and was wildly firing bullet after bullet into the oncoming sea of black. Beside her stood her teammates, Weiss, Blake, Yang and Fenris. Each of them, barring Fenris, was firing some form of projectile into the oncoming horde, until eventually it came to close to them. Ruby was the first to react, as a single Beowolf reached her and swung at her. She leapt into the air, easily clearing the clumsy swipe, and shot it in the head, propelling herself backwards. Ruby watched as her teammates dashed into the horde, weapons unsheathed, and grinned as she heard the cries of the fallen Grimm.

As she reloaded, Fenris ran up next to her to stand by her side. She loaded the new magazine into her rifle and quickly unfolded it. Her smile grew all the more fierce as she drew the weapon behind her and cocked it. Beside her, Fenris dropped to a predatory crouch and let loose a challenging howl. A few of the Beowolves responded in kind and four broke away from the main group to run them down. Smile still on her face, Ruby fired, using the recoil to launch herself forward, and Fenris breaking into a sprint beside her.

As she neared the first Beowolf, she jumped, the blade of Crescent Rose hooking around its neck. She fired again, and the recoil caused her to slice cleanly through the Beowolf's neck, and carried her forward. She swung the scythe at another Beowolf behind it, firing again, and cut the Grimm across its midsection, splitting it in two. She landed with a huff, and spun around to slam the tip of Crescent Rose into the skull of the Beowolf behind her. She turned to see Fenris biting into the neck of the final Beowolf, tearing away with a snarl as it went still. She looked back on the sea of Grimm, and noticed a larger than average Ursa Major in the middle of them. Judging by its movements, it seemed to be fighting someone-A large flare shooting up and smacking into the Ursa's chest confirmed that it was fighting Yang.

Ruby's face set in determination, and she brought her free hand to her mouth and blew a two-tone whistle. A moment later, Fenris padded up next to her, wrapped both hands around her waist, and _flung _her at the horde. As she sailed through the air, she fired her rifle to send herself farther, and flung her scythe out to the side as she neared the Ursa. It raised one of its mighty paws to swipe at her, and she caught it at the elbow. Her blade sunk into it, and cut clean through, severing the large limb from the large Grimm as she landed behind it. The Ursa Major roared in pain, only to be cut off by a large flare hitting it in the head, cracking its skull mask. The beast endured two more shots before the mask shattered, and a third hit the exposed black flesh, and it fell to the ground, dead.

Ruby smiled as she saw her sister finish off the wounded Grimm, and quickly planted her scythe in front of her, the weapon halting a Boarbatusk's charge, and fired, the round piercing the Grimm's head easily. She quickly dispatched a Beowolf near her with ease, one slice ending its life, and turned her attention back to the combat. A predatory smile grew on her face. A bloodlust was building in her, and she wanted, no _needed_ to kill more Grimm. With a subconscious lick of her lips, she leapt into the fray.

After this strange bloodlust filled her, Ruby fought like a madwoman. She decimated scores of Grimm with a manic grin on her face, chopping them into smaller and smaller pieces every time she attacked. She used up ammo like there was no tomorrow, firing bullet after bullet, tearing into the horde with a fierce passion. As her kill count increased and her bloodlust rose, she found that there was no shortage of Grimm to fight, and they seemed to be focusing more and more on the red reaper among them than the rest of her teammates.

As the battle continued, Ruby's teammates flashed in and out of view, sometimes aiding her, and sometimes she aiding them. She would fight alongside them for a while, and then some Grimm would break them up and she would lose sight of them. She spun in a flurry of death, her scythe cutting anything that dared come within range, firing at every possible moment, only stopping to reload.

At one such moment, as she stood, new magazine in hand, a Beowolf lunged at her. She leapt back, and as she did she felt a flash of pain across her cheek. She lifted a hand to her cheek and felt the small cut, now slowly oozing blood. She glared at the Beowolf who had wounded her, hatred in her eyes, and dashed forward. She ducked under the Grimm's swipe, and rammed the scythe into its head, the blade of her scythe slamming through its flesh. She pulled it out with a wet _squelch_ and carried on the slaughter.

Eventually, Ruby suffered more and more wounds. It continued with the small cuts and bruises, caused by badly dodged swipes and Boarbatusk tusks, but eventually they escalated to larger, deeper wounds. Her largest wound was a stab in the stomach, from a Boarbatusk's charge that she barely managed to keep from goring her entirely, that extended a few inches into her flesh. As the wounds took their toll, Ruby's bloodlust faded, and was quickly replaced with exhaustion. She began to slow, and her movements became sloppy.

She now stood, panting, one hand on the wound in her side, surrounded by Beowolves circling her warily. One charged at her, and she barely had the strength to lift her scythe, and when she fired to increase the weapon's momentum, she lost her balance and tumbled forward, eyes wide. She could see the rest of the Beowolves seize the chance and leaping towards her, and despair filled her. _'This is how I'm going to die.' _she thought. She was going to die at the initiation, before she even got her team officially assembled.

As soon as the thought had entered her head, she heard a loud howl, there came the sound of tearing flesh, two of the Beowolves dropped with large gashes in their necks and then Fenris was beside her. His black body was marked all over with red gashes, varying in size and deepness, and a red, shadowy substance leaked from the wounds. He stood next to her on all fours, and growled, deep and loud. The nearest Beowolf snarled and lunged at him, only to lose its head as Fenris drove his claw upwards, ripping the head from its shoulders. As the head was still tumbling in the air, he turned, grabbed Ruby and _leapt_ away from the Grimm.

They landed outside the main horde of Grimm, and Fenris gently set Ruby on the ground. She smiled wearily at him, barely able to stand. "Thanks boy." she murmured weakly. He whined at her, and leaned towards her face, licking at the small wound on her cheek. "No, not yet." she said, pushing his head away with a small chuckle. "We've got to clear the Grimm out first-" She was interrupted by a loud, pained screech. She turned in surprise to see the Deathstalker collapse, dead. She was brought out of her shock as the Jaune and the other three students rushed away from its now dissolving corpse, charging at the horde of Grimm.

Some of the older, wiser Grimm, those with more boney protrusions, saw the incoming warriors and, realizing that their threat was too high to handle, fled. The younger, less experienced Grimm, however, stayed and were quickly assaulted by the students. Ruby turned to Fenris as the new team entered the thinning crowd of Grimm and grabbed his head. "I need you to get the other three out for me. Can you do that?" Her companion nodded, turned, and leapt back into the crowd. Moments later, there was a shrill shriek and his black form came hurtling back out, landing and depositing Weiss on the ground in front of Ruby. As he turned and leapt back in, Ruby helped the girl get back up.

She huffed. "You need to control that beast better, Ruby."

Ruby ignored her in favor of watching Fenris leap out of the crowd of Grimm, Yang and Blake under each arm. He landed in front of her, and unceremoniously dropped both of the girls. "Jeez Fenris, don't you think you could have been a little bit more gentle?" Yang groaned as she slowly stood up.

"Ruby." Blake began.

"Yes Blake?"

"Make sure he never does that to me again." She said with a glare. Ruby could see she had a scary look on her face, and nodded vigorously.

"Holy crap sis!" Yang exclaimed. Ruby turned to her in confusion. "You're covered in blood!" She looked down at herself in confusion. Indeed, all of the wounds on her had continued bleeding, and her clothes had been slowly been dyed red. Immediately, exhaustion and blood loss took hold, and she dropped to her knees. Crescent Rose slid out of her hands and nausea filled her. Her sister rushed towards her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "That's it, you've lost too much blood. We're heading back to the cliff right now."

Turning to Fenris, Yang pointed at Ruby, and barked a command at the Beowolf. He obediently walked over and picked Ruby up, cradling her like a child. "But…The others might still need our help…" She protested weakly.

"They'll be fine. Well, I'm not too sure about tall, blonde and scraggly, but Pyrrha Nikos is in there, and the Grimm are running away anyways." Weiss assured her. Ruby sighed, and then exhaustion overcame her, and everything went black.

Ruby again stood in the empty grey space, facing that other her. It was the same as she had last seen it, tattered hood, red eyes and claws, but it now bore a scar on its cheek, and it was no longer panting. Remembering what had happened the last time, Ruby reached behind her for Crescent Rose, only to find herself weaponless. She groaned in frustration, and quickly readied herself in a fighting stance, and then the other Ruby spoke. "There's no need for that."

Ruby blinked in surprise. _'I didn't know she could talk.' _

The other Ruby frowned and spoke again. "Of course I can talk. Why wouldn't I be able to?" Her voice sounded near-identical to Ruby's, but was a bit deeper, and held violence in its tone.

"Well, you didn't talk before, you just jumped at me! Now who are you, and why do you look like me?"

The other Ruby reached up and scratched her head. "Yeah, I was a little bit pent-up back then, you haven't let me out in a while. And as for who I am," she said, her features widening into a sharp-toothed grin, "you can call me Red."

Ruby glared at the other girl suspiciously. "Alright, Red, where are we?"

Red shrugged. "I'm not too sure myself. But this place just goes on and on, completely empty and completely boring." she said. "It's just an endless grey space." The wolf ears on her head perked up, and she paused. "Damn, you're waking up. I thought I would have more time." She growled, a scowl on her face.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean? Waking me up, am I asleep?" she asked.

"Alright Ruby, one request before you go. Could you please let me out more often?" Red pleaded, ignoring her question. "It gets so boring in here, there's nobody to talk to and nothing to kill." she whined.

Ruby saw that her vision was slowly filling with light, blinding her to Red and the grey void she stood in. "Wait, Red, you never answered-"

Ruby's eyes shot open to see a grey surface in front of her. Realizing it was the ceiling, she blinked in confusion, and tried to rise from her position. That proved to be a mistake, as a sharp pain shot through her, and she lowered herself back with a groan. As she lay there, pain slowly fading to a dull throb, a door opened. She turned to it, as a nurse walked in. "Ah, Miss Rose, you're awake." she said. "You are very lucky you got here when you did, a few minutes more and you would have lost too much blood."

"Where am I?" she asked the nurse.

"You're in the Beacon infirmary dear, and we need to get you up for the team building ceremony soon. Let's see what we can to get you up and walking…"

A couple hours and a few painkillers later, and Ruby stood alongside her teammates on the stage in the auditorium. Well, as close to standing as she could get. She sat astride Fenris, who was on all fours beneath her, and tried not to reopen any of her wounds as Ozpin listed the people in her team. She listened intently as he began to finish. "From this day forward, you will work together as…Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

Ruby shot up in surprise, before dropping back down with a wince at the pain it caused her. She quickly led Fenris off the stand to make room for the next team. It was a strange team, as it only had three people, and Ruby recognized two of them as Vixen and Rose. As Ozpin explained that those three would have to wait for another teammate to arrive, Ruby stared ahead, not really focusing on anything, dreaming up ideas for her future as leader.

She was snapped out of her reverie by a loud scream. She quickly looked around, and realized that Vixen was staring at something in the sky, horror etched across her face. Ruby noticed that there was some red liquid raining down from the open roof, and she looked up, to see a person falling from the sky, blood streaming from two wounds on their back. Without hesitation, Ruby hopped off Fenris, brought two fingers to her mouth, pointed the other at the falling figure and whistled.

Instantly, Fenris reared up on his hind legs and leapt, catching the falling person and setting them down gently. Ruby watched as a crowd formed around the fallen figure, as medics ran in and placed him, for it soon became clear the figure was a boy, on a stretcher and ran for the infirmary. _'Well. This should be an interesting year.'_

**A/N: Unsure if this chapter makes the story qualify for the M tag. **

**As I said, this story isn't going to focus on the OCs. However, another story, "Team VNUS" will, and it is the story of the OCs living in this AU. That story shall focus entirely on the OCs and their various adventures. In the meantime, feel free to review. **


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys. I know we're all in mourning about the death of Monty Oum. I just…He always wanted everybody to keep moving forward. So that's what I'm doing here. I'm sorry for the amount of time this chapter took, and I have no excuses for it. Life dragged me down a bit, but I'm moving on now. I'll try to work on this more often and update quicker. **

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. **

**Rest in peace, Monty. We'll miss you.**

* * *

Ruby awoke to light streaming on her face. She rose with a yawn, and sleepily trod over to the bathroom, scratching the top of her head, behind her ears as she did. She stepped into the small room and stared into the mirror. She leaned into the mirror, one hand still on her ear, and paused. Her hand slowly felt the furry appendage sitting on the top of her head, and her eyes widened in disbelief. She brought one hand to cover her mouth and stared at the new set of ears on top of her head.

They were coated in black fur, and as she stared at them, they folded back onto her head in a strange, frightened gesture. She blinked in surprise, and attempted to unfold her ears. They obeyed, and she felt the strange sensation of these new extremities shifting on her head. She found that she could move the ears easily enough, almost as if she had always had them. A quiet _ping_ reached her from the sink, and her ears automatically flicked over towards the sound.

"This is…really weird," she said. "Where did these come from-" Her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door.

"Ruby! Hurry up in there!" Weiss called out.

"U-Uh yeah, sure! Be out in a minute!" Ruby replied. _'Should I show them or not?' _she thought. _'Well, Yang would try and help, but I don't know how Weiss and Blake would react to a Faunus…Probably best to hide it until I find that out.'_ she decided. She turned to the small set of hooks on the wall where her uniform hung and quickly changed into it, grabbing her hood and pulling it over her head to cover her ears. Stepping out of the bathroom, she bolted past a surprised Weiss and out the dorm room, shouting as she ran, "SorryWeissgottagogetFenrishehasn'tseenmeinawhileseeyouinclassbye!" She left behind rose petals and a very confused Weiss in her wake.

"What's wrong with that girl?" She asked.

* * *

Ruby stepped out cautiously into the sunlight, out of the dorm building. She checked to make sure nobody was around, and then hurried out towards the foliage at the edge of the campus, head held low and hood pulled up. As soon as she stepped off the concrete and onto the grass, she was tackled by a large, black blur, and her face was soon covered in its slobber. "Gyaah! Fenris, down boy!" she called out in between licks.

Fenris quickly hopped off of her with an excited yip and watched her as she rose. His black head tilted when he saw the black ears on top of her head, and he whined quizzically. Ruby quickly pulled her hood back up, which had slipped when she fell, and hushed him. "I don't know how they got there boy, but I can't let anybody see them. Understand?" The Beowolf nodded with a quick chuff of confirmation. Fenris' nostrils flared as he caught a familiar scent, and he sniffed behind her. With a sheepish grin, Ruby pulled out the leash, and Fenris whined in disappointment.

* * *

Ruby arrive at the first class, Professor Port's Grimm Studies quickly enough, a saddened Fenris in tow. As she walked down the stairs to her seat at the front, she could feel the eyes of the class simultaneously turn to her and, more specifically, Fenris. The Beowolf ignored the attention and followed Ruby with his head held low. She took her seat next to her partner, and Fenris plopped down next to her. Weiss eyed him warily, before returning her gaze to the lesson.

Ruby attempted to pay attention to the professor, but her focus was constantly broken by small noises her new ears picked up. She could hear whispering at the back of the class, the small conversations held by inattentive classmates, the sound of metal scraping on metal, the growling of Fenris-_'Wait, what?'_

She turned to her Beowolf companion, only to see him staring down the barrel of Port's blunder-axe. With a shout of surprise, she jumped in between the two, raising her arms out protectively. "Whoa, professor, it's alright!"

"Alright? Ms. Rose, you have brought me live prey to show the class! This is fantastic!" Port exclaimed. "I have captured Boarbatusks and a few Ursai, but never a Beowolf!" The professor leaned in close to Ruby, his bushy eyebrows raised slightly. "I had planned on allowing one of you to fight one of the few Boarbatusks I captured, but this is far more educational. Would you mind too terribly if we used him for today's lesson?" He inquired.

Ruby blinked in confusion. "Uh, sure, I guess."

Port's eyebrows lifted and he appeared to smile beneath his mustache. "Excellent!" he shouted. In a flash, he reached over the desk and snatched Fenris' leash, yanking him up and over the table with a yip. As he began walking towards the center of the room, Fenris turned towards Ruby with a pleading look and whimpered. She smiled sympathetically at the Beowolf before returning to her examination of her newfound enhanced hearing.

Behind the boisterous tone of Port, there was the sound of a few whispered conversations, and if she focused hard enough, and strained her new ears, she could make out some about the new sight in the classroom, and some about more personal subjects. She was torn from her thoughts again by Port's loud voice calling out, "Ms. Rose?" Ruby blinked and refocused on the lesson. Port was standing atop Fenris, hands clamped on his upper and lower jaw, straining to pry open his mouth. "Do you think you could aid me in opening your companion's mouth? I want to show the class everything I can today!" She nodded, stood up, and walked, head held low to make sure her ears didn't show, over to the prone Beowolf.

She knelt in front of him, looked into his red eyes and commanded, "Open." With a soft whine, he obeyed, slowly opening his mouth to show the entire class the blood red teeth in his mouth.

"Thank you Ms. Rose," said Port. As Ruby rose to head back to her seat, he stopped her. "Ms. Rose, if you would be so kind as to stay and assist me for the rest of the period, as I feel this one," he gestured towards the prone Fenris, who responded with a throaty growl, mouth still wide open, "will be difficult to control without your help."

"Sure professor. He is a little bit ornery with strangers…especially when they greet him with a loaded weapon."

Port chuckled. "An understandable reaction and I must offer my apologies. I should have known he would not require pacification when he entered the room guided by a leash. Can you forgive me?" He asked.

"You're apologizing to the wrong person." She replied.

Port's eyebrows rose in surprise, and he quickly hopped off of the Beowolf. He knelt down, bringing his face close to the gaping maw of Fenris. "I am sorry for how I have treated you. Can you forgive me?" He asked. Ruby detected, with a hint of pride, sincerity in his voice. Fenris remained motionless for a moment, before his red tongue shot out and licked the professor's face. "I will take that as a yes." Port said, chuckling as he did. Fenris slowly rose to all fours, jaw still agape, and stared out at the students. Port gestured towards his mouth, and said, "Now, as you can see, this Beowolf-"

"Fenris." Ruby corrected.

Port nodded in acknowledgement. "Fenris here, is a young Beowolf. As you all should know, as Grimm grow older, they grow bonelike protrusions on their body- spikes along the back and forelimbs, generally. Fenris lacks any such protrusions," he said, pointing at the bare forelegs and back, "meaning that he is quite young. Another factor pointing to a young age is the teeth." With this, Port reached his arm into Fenris' mouth and grabbed one sharp, red tooth. "His teeth are still red, meaning that he can't be more than a few years old." He let go of Fenris' tooth, and the Beowolf's jaws snapped shut with a clack. "What is most interesting, however, is the lack of a mask. I have never seen a Grimm that did not have its mask-we suspect they grow in the first year or so of their lifespan-and that means that he is extremely young-probably still a pup!" He turned to Ruby, eyebrows rising slightly. "Ms. Rose, could you have him stand on his hind legs for us? I wish to see his full stature." With a nod, Ruby clasped the Beowolf's foreleg and commanded him to rise.

Fenris slowly raised himself onto his hind legs, stretching himself to his full height, well over 7 feet tall. Port nodded in admiration. "And yet, he still seems to be fully grown-he has nearly reached the height of an Alpha! Tell me Ms. Rose, when did you acquire him?"

"Well, it was this year, actually about six or so months ago, and he was just a little puppy then-"  
"Remarkable!" Port cut in, "And you have been by his side for all this time?" He questioned.

"Yes, I've raised him since I found him. I, uh sorta orphaned him, and felt guilty, and he was just a puppy and he was so cute and-"

"You do not need to explain to me, Ms. Rose. Now, let us continue the lesson." As the class went on, he showed the class the weak points and strengths of the Beowolf, as well as going briefly into the anatomy until the end of the class.

* * *

After Port's class came Combat Training with Professor Goodwitch. Again, Ruby took her seat, avoiding the mixed stares she and Fenris received, simply pulling her hood further forwards. As soon as Ruby sat down, Professor Goodwitch strode across the arena in the middle of the room. "Alright class, today shall be a basic, one-on-one combat evaluation." Receiving a large number of confused stares and murmurs, she continued, "While the initiation did provide us with some knowledge of your skills, many of you were able to avoid combat outright, and retrieved your relics without incident. We also need to know your hand-to-hand combat skills to see what level of training you will need."

She turned and gestured to the large screen on the wall, "We have randomly selected your opponents, taking account for any of you on the same team. These are the pairings." The screen lit up at her words, and a list of paired names appeared. Ruby scanned the list for her and her teammates names- they were all scattered throughout the list, Ruby being near the top. Ruby found her slot had three names- 'Ruby Rose/Fenris vs. Cardin Winchester'. She was confused, until it dawned on her, _'They consider Fenris a part of me.'_ The realization made her smile, and she turned towards her companion, who was staring at her curiously. She simply smiled wider, reached up and scratched his head.

Weiss was fighting Pyrrha, Blake was up against Dove, another member of CRDL, and Yang was fighting somebody with a strange name. The first few fights went by quickly, usually with one fighter being less experienced than the other in hand-to-hand and losing quickly, but a few battles provided quite a bit of entertainment and insight into the skill some first-years had. As Lie Ren, a member of Jaune's team, stepped off the stage after soundly beating his opponent, Glynda's voice called out the next match. "Next, Ruby Rose and Fenris vs. Cardin Winchester."

There were a few whispers as Ruby stood and walked Fenris down to the arena. As she walked, she spotted her opponent confidently striding towards the middle. She eyed him up, taking in his obvious strengths and weapon. As she stepped onto the floor of the arena, she reached over and unclipped the leash from Fenris, stashing it in her pocket.

Cardin laughed at the sight. "Did you seriously make a pet out of a Beowolf? You have a leash and everything!" He leaned forward mockingly, "Oh, is he potty trained, too? Can he roll over? Fetch? Haha!" With a scowl on her face, Ruby reached behind her and pulled out Crescent Rose, unfolding it to its full size and slamming it into the ground, barrel facing Cardin.

"He's my companion, and no, Grimm don't use the bathroom. You'd know that if you actually paid attention in class," she retorted.

"Heh, sure he is, Red," At the use of the nickname, Ruby could feel a slight surge within her, and her lips twitched briefly into a predatory grin, "Companion, pet, whatever, he's still a Grimm, and that means it's my job as a Huntsman to kill him," he sneered.

"That's enough of that," called out Glynda. She stepped in between the two students, breaking their line of sight. "Mr. Winchester, even if Fenris happens to be a Grimm, you are not allowed to kill him, understand?" At Cardin's glare, she spoke again, with more force in her voice, "Do. You. Understand?"

Cardin wilted under her glare and turned away. "Yes ma'am."

Glynda nodded her approval and stepped back. "The match will begin on the count of three."

Cardin unslung his mace from his side and held it on his shoulder, confidence regained.

"One."

Ruby checked Crescent Rose, making sure the magazine was full, before slamming it back in and cocking the rifle.

"Two."

Fenris stood still, staring at their opponent intently, teeth bared and a low growl forming in the back of his throat.

"Three. Begin!"

As Ruby dashed forwards, she could feel that surge within her yet again, and she heard the voice of Red. "Shed some blood for me, kid."


	7. Chapter 6

Ruby launched herself towards Cardin, Crescent Rose behind her and Fenris at her side, growling loudly. She fired a round to gain some momentum and swung her scythe at him in a diagonal slice, only for him to raise his mace and stop the blade. He smirked and shoved her backwards, causing her to stumble. Fenris shot past her, slamming his shoulder into the armored boy. Cardin staggered backwards at the force of the hit, and barely avoided the following swipe by Fenris. He raised his mace in anger to strike down the Beowolf, only to be blindsided when Ruby launched herself into his face, feet-first. He stumbled backwards, momentarily stunned, and caught a swipe from Fenris across his chest, claws scraping against his armor.

Ruby swung her scythe in an overhead swing, trying to end the match quickly. Cardin, however, had other plans. He sidestepped her swing, and slammed his mace into the side of her head. Her Aura blunted some of the impact, stopping any significant damage, but she still went flying. Midair, she swung herself around, landing on the wall and leaping off the wall with a grunt, her hood flying back from the wind. She spun around midair, intent on slamming her scythe's back into his head, only to hear the clang of metal clashing as he raised his mace in a block. Cardin swung his mace at her in a side swipe aimed at her midsection, forcing her to jump away. As she landed, Fenris, who had been circling Cardin, searching for an opening, lunged at his back. The Beowolf ducked the mace swing Cardin sent towards him, and tackled him. As Cardin struggled with the Grimm pinning him to the floor, Ruby planted her scythe into the floor of the arena, steadied the rifle, and fired. Cardin shifted his head to the side, flinching as the bullet shattered the stone next to his head. Ruby chambered a new round, and fired, only to miss once more as Cardin shoved Fenris off of him. Ruby continued firing, and Cardin spun his mace in front of him, deflecting each bullet.

Cardin decided to go on the offensive, as Fenris rose. He slammed his mace into the Beowolf's head, dazing him. He charged towards Ruby, dropping his shoulder and slamming into her. His charge carried her into the wall and he slammed her against it, and she gasped in pain. Dazed, she blinked away spots in her vision as she saw Fenris snarl angrily at Cardin, and recklessly charge forwards. Cardin's cocky smirk returned, and Ruby watched in horror as he placed his mace in a two-handed grip, and slammed it onto Fenris' head, flooring the charging Grimm. As she watched her companion fall to the ground, red marks in his head from where the mace had broken through his skin, something in her shifted. "That's it," came the voice of Red, snarling in anger, "He's mine."

Ruby felt the bloodlust of Red fill her body, and her conscious thought dwindled down to a need to cause pain. She snarled inhumanly and quickly rose, firing a shot for momentum. Cardin turned at the sound of her gun, and his eyes widened as he saw the back of her scythe flying towards him. He raised his arm to defend himself, too slow, and watched with terrified eyes as the steel slammed into his shoulder, shattering it. At the impact, a sickening crack rang throughout the arena, followed by a loud scream. Cardin stared in shock at his arm, dangling uselessly at his side, screaming in pain. He was silenced when Ruby's hand covered his mouth. He stared at her, tears of pain in his eyes, and saw her face had changed. There was an inhuman quality to it, as if her features had become distorted by her rage. What terrified him, however, were her eyes. They were blood red-The eyes of a Grimm. "Don't scream, big boy," she said. Her voice had changed as well. It was deeper, and it sounded as if she was growling out each word. "Little Red's gonna make it all go away." A large, manic smile appeared on her face as she brought her scythe up to his cheek, the tip scraping against his skin, drawing blood. His Aura was too low as it attempted to quicken the healing of his arm to stop the flesh wound from appearing. She licked her lips at the blood on her scythe, and raised it over her head, readying herself to strike him down- and then she was flung backwards by a strange force. She landed on her back with a small grunt and quickly rose to her feet. Standing between her and her prey was Professor Goodwitch, a scowl on her face. "That is quite enough Ms. Rose. You have already won the match." Ruby _snarled _at the woman, placing Crescent Rose behind her and readying herself to launch towards the woman- and then she heard a noise behind her. A small whine, filled with pain and pleading.

Ruby looked over her shoulder and saw Fenris slowly raising himself from the ground back to all fours. There came a relieved sigh from within her, and Red's influence faded. Ruby blinked in confusion, and then the knowledge of her actions returned and her eyes widened, horrified. She slowly turned her head to the terrified Cardin, looking into his frightened eyes and leapt back, horrified. She looked around the arena and saw dozens of eyes staring at her, in horror and awe. She slowly stepped backwards looking at her hand and trembling.

Glynda's voice broke her out of her stupor. "Ms. Rose," she coldly stated, "please wait outside. I will escort you to Ozpin's office. We shall take care of your Beowolf while he sorts you out." Ruby nodded nervously, still shaking. She walked towards the end of the arena, and stepped outside the door, her eyes wide and scared. When she stepped out into the hall and the weight of all the eyes in the room lifted from her shoulders, she sat down against the wall. _'What happened to me?'_ she asked.

"I did, kid," came Red's voice, "That fucker hurt a member of our pack, so I hurt him. That's the way it works."

"You took it too far," she whispered back, "you broke his arm, and you were gonna kill him! You almost attacked the professor!"

"Hey, she got in my way, and that kid fucked with Fenris. You saw how hard he hit him; no unmasked Grimm should have survived that. I think my reaction was within reason." She could almost feel Red crossing her arms within her.

But what she said gave Ruby pause. _'How DID he survive that? That hit should have been strong enough to kill him...'_ She was brought out of her thoughts by the door opening beside her. Goodwitch strode out, her face cold and remote.

"Come with me." She commanded. Ruby stood and obediently walked behind her as they made their way through the halls. They passed by a few students walking by them, all turning with curious looks to the girl behind the professor. It took a few moments for Ruby to realize they were staring at her ears. Embarrassed, she raised her hood to cover them and lowered her head.

As they continued, Ruby lifted her head to speak. "Professor Goodwitch, I-" she was silenced by a piercing glare from the professor. She quickly lowered her head again and walked silently the rest of the way.

Eventually they reached a large pair of doors, and Glynda through them open, stepping in quickly as Ruby followed behind her quietly. Sitting in a large chair made out of gears, looking down at some papers on his desk, was Ozpin. He took a sip from his mug and looked up at them as they entered and smiled. "Ms. Rose, Glynda,"as he took Ruby's downcast expression and Glynda's silently furious one, his smile faded. "What is it?" he asked.

"Ms. Rose here, broke her opponent's arm during combat practice, drew blood and attempted to strike after the fight was over." The professor said, a scowl on her face.

Ozpin blinked in mild surprise. "Did she now?" he turned to Ruby, his expression serious. "Is this true, Ruby?" She nodded, subdued, her head held low. His face grew more serious, and he gestured to Glynda. "You can go, Glynda. I'll handle it from here." She gave a curt nod, turned on her heel and strode out of the room. As the door shut behind her, she heard Ozpin sigh. "Care to explain?"

"I was in a sparring match with Cardin, and then he hit Fenris really hard, and I- I thought he had killed him…" she stuttered, pulling into herself a little. "And then, I just…Lost control. I- I broke his arm, like Glynda said, and just kept going. I wanted to hurt him," her voice dropped into a snarl as Red surged through her again, "like he hurt Fenris." When the snarl left her throat, she shuddered and wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging herself.

Ozpin stared at her worriedly. "Is there anything else that caused this? Something beyond your control that has been making you do this? You don't seem like the type of person to purposely injure another student, even during a sparring match."

She looked up at him, hood hanging over her head, and thought, _'Can I tell him?'_

Sensing her hesitation, he leaned forward. "Ruby, I want to help you however I can, but I can't do that if you don't tell me all that there is."

His words broke her hesitation and she steeled herself, slowly raising her hands up to her hood. Ozpin looked at her with an unreadable expression, his gaze focused on the top of her head. She lowered the hood, her ears flicking as the fabric brushed against them. As her hood settled behind her head, she met Ozpin's gaze, seeing the intensity and curiosity in them. "You're a Faunus," he said, his tone level, "but those ears were not there when we met. Why did you hide them from me, Ruby?"

She opened her mouth to clarify, that no, she wasn't a Faunus-or rather, she hadn't always been one, but she hesitated. The voice within her used that opportunity, and Red spoke in her mind. "Don't tell him kid," she crooned, "he'll never believe you." Ruby's hesitation grew, and Red seized the moment. "I'm sorry for breaking that kid's shoulder-I won't do it again, but if you rat me out, they'll take me outta here. They'll know you aren't normal-I can help you convince them you are!" she bargained. "But you can't tell them about me."

Ruby considered the girl's words for a moment. _'You promise?'_ she asked.

"Cross my heart, kiddo."

She tried to swallow down the lump in her throat and nervously said, "I didn't want people to know-if you had put that I was a Faunus on my files, somebody might have found out, and then word would have spread." Inwardly, she could feel Red smiling as she lied to her Headmaster's face.

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, and he looked her in the eyes. She maintained eye contact, sweating slightly. After a few tense moments, he smiled and shook his head. "Ruby, the records are viewed only by Beacon staff-there was no risk of your secret being exposed. But I believe that quite a few people saw your secret during your match-and most likely on the way here." He steepled his fingers beneath his chin and his smile faded. "You said you simply wanted revenge for your companion on Cardin? There were no, say, personal vendettas against Cardin?"

She shook her head. "No, but he seems like a bit of a jerk. I can see why you'd ask that."

He leaned back in his clockwork chair, nodding. "Yes, but Cardin's temperament does not excuse your actions-how hard did he hit your companion?" he inquired.

"It was a two-handed, overhead strike," she said, and pointed to the top of her head, "Right here. He hit the floor like a brick, and I thought he had killed him."

"Very well, you're anger appears to be justified-but I must warn you, Ruby." He leaned forwards, gazing intensely into her eyes. "If an incident like this occurs again, you will be expelled. I will not have my students trying to kill each other."

She gulped and nodded. "I understand, Headmaster. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Make sure that you do." He turned around, swiveling his chair away from her. "You will, of course, still be punished." Her face fell as he continued, "You will spend every day of the next week after school in four hours detention." She hung her head and nodded. "I'll make sure Cardin is punished for his excessive force against your companion as well. You are free to go, Ruby." She nodded again and walked out of the office. As soon as she had left, Ozpin's expression turned somber again. _'Now…'_ he thought to himself, _'What reason could she have to lie to me?'_

Ruby stepped out of the office, head held low. She looked out into the empty halls and sighed, heading back down the way she came. "Where are you going?" Red asked.

'_Back to class. I need to be there to watch my team fight.'_ She replied.

"Fuck that! What you need to do is check on Fenris." Red called out. "His wounds were pretty serious! Your team can wait, their lives aren't in danger."

Ruby hesitated. She should really be there for her teammates- but she wanted to be by Fenris if he was really hurt…Red sensed her hesitation and continued, "Come on! We can check on Fenris, make sure his wounds won't kill him, and then be back in class in a flash! In, out, and then we can watch your team whoop their opponents!"

Her words finalized Ruby's decision, and she turned away from the main hall, heading down a side hall instead. As they reached an intersection, she stopped yet again. "What is it now?!" Red cried out.

'_I…Have no idea where the infirmary is.'_ Ruby replied, holding back a sheepish grin, and Red sighed.

A few minutes later, with the aid of a student wandering the halls, Ruby reached the infirmary. She walked to the front desk and greeted the woman sitting there. "Hi, can you direct me to where Fenris is held? He should be a recent addition-" The woman cut her off with a raised finger, lowering it to tap on the keys of the computer in front of her.

"Fenris, the Beowolf, correct?" She asked not turning away from the screen. At Ruby's nod she pointed down the hallway to her right. "Third door on your left. Good luck getting in there though-the docs say he's being very difficult." Ruby nodded, and rushed down the hall in a flurry of petals, turning into the third door and barreling through.

The scene she walked in on was a chaotic one. The doctor and her nurse were standing against the wall, brandishing needles like weapons. On the bed stood Fenris, on all fours, head still bleeding. He stood growling at the doctor. She attempted to advance, to most likely tranquilize the defensive Grimm, only for him to swipe his claw at her hand as she approached.

Ruby gaped at the chaos before her, the door slamming shut behind her. Fenris turned at the noise, teeth bared, and his ears perked up when he saw her. He gave a happy yip and hopped down from the bed, mouth open in a doggy grin. He nuzzled into her side, doctors and needles forgotten. "Ah, you must be his owner." The doctor panted, clearly exhausted. "Do you think you could do us a favor and hold him down? I need to get a closer look at his head wound, and he won't let me near it."

"Of course!" Ruby looked down at Fenris, still with his bleeding head nuzzled into her side. "Fenris, let the nice lady check your head." The Beowolf obediently turned and sat on his hind legs, arms planted to the ground in front of him, and lowered his head. The doctor nodded and stepped forward, grabbing his head and examining it.

"Well, from what I can see, he seems to only have a few cuts, but they are pretty deep. They might bleed for a while, but nothing to serious. Couldn't have been anything bad."

"Nothing bad?" Ruby asked, more to herself than anyone else.

If the doctor heard her, she gave no evidence to show it. "If you let us wrap his wounds, he should be healed in a few days."

Ruby nodded, her confusion still evident. The doctor and her nurse quickly went to work, taking a large roll of bandages and carefully wrapping it around Fenris' head, leaving a large patchwork of white on the crown of his head. The Beowolf glanced upward, trying to look at the cloth wrapped around his head, reaching up and clawing at the material. Ruby quietly scolded him, pushing his paw away from the bandages, and he huffed in frustration.

"Thank you for your help Dr…?" Ruby trailed off.

"Amber. Dr. Amber. It's my job to treat wounds here kid," Amber chuckled, "but I was never expecting to have to treat a Beowolf in my lifetime." Waving away any further thanks, she continued, "Just bring him in here tomorrow for us to change his bandages. Have to make sure they stay clean, even if they aren't all that bad."

Ruby nodded and left the room, still thanking the doctor profusely. She walked past the bored looking lady, who hardly glanced up at Fenris before returning to her computer. As she stepped out into the hall, Fenris nuzzled deeper into her side, his now bandaged head rubbing against her clothes. "C'mon boy, let's head back to class." She started walking down the halls, heading back towards the arena.

"Whoa whoa whoa, why are we heading back so soon? We only just got back with Fenris!" Red cried out.

"But, we have to get back to the team! They need me there-"

"What for?" Red interjected.

"To- uh…" Ruby trailed off.

"Well?" Red asked. "Face it Rubes, they are all well-trained fighters, with far more experience then you, and you can't help with the battle itself. The only thing you could do would be cheer them on, and that would just distract them.

With a dejected sigh, Ruby nodded. "I guess you're right. I just…I want to be the best leader I can be, and the best team member I can. I feel like I need to prove myself to my team, to make them understand that I'm not gonna be useless or something."

"You're worried about proving yourself?" Ruby could feel the surprise in the statement as she nodded. "Ruby, if you didn't prove yourself worthy of fighting alongside them in the initiation, you never will. You don't have to worry about that."

Ruby shook her head. "I know I don't have to prove my fighting skills-but I have no idea how to be a leader. I never took the lead at Signal, and I've never been responsible for other people. I just…don't know how to go about learning how to lead."

"Well you won't learn to lead by sitting on the sidelines and cheering your team. You need to wait for the right opportunity, a time when your team needs direction, and I'm sure that you'll be ready then, and if you're not, I can always help you out."

"I guess you're right…You do seem to have good advice."

Within her, Red shook her head. "I don't mean just words Rubes: I can take control of your body, handle the situation in my way." As Ruby's face gave way to concern, she hastily added, "With your consent, of course."

"Yeah, please make sure to ask me before you do something like that again. I don't want to be sent to Ozpin's office again."

"Aye aye, captain. I'll only take control whenever you let me, I promise. Now come on, Fenris hasn't seen our dorm yet! We have to show him around."

With a smile on her face, Ruby dashed down the hallway, Fenris following behind her.

As Ruby flew through the halls, petals streaming from her hood, she avoided the gazes of students, ignoring the glares and stares she got, both for her ears and her companion. She continued speeding along, heading towards her dorm. _'Hey Red, what am I gonna tell my team?'_

"Whaddaya mean kid?" She asked

'_I mean, what'll be my excuse for not coming back to them after Ozpin let me go? I can't just tell them that a voice in my head told me not to go.'_

"Yeah, you have a point. You can just tell them the truth, but uh…please leave me out of the discussion," the feral girl requested, "I really doubt they would trust me, and you might get sent to a mental hospital."

'_Don't worry Red, I'll keep you a secret, I promise!' _Ruby smiled as she rounded the corner, her dorm door in sight.

As she slowed down to reach the door, Red continued, "Heh, thanks kid. Don't worry about what to tell your team, I'll think of something before we see them," Red paused as Ruby opened the door froze. "Or not."

Standing in the room, where she seemed to have been waiting for a while, was Yang. She heard the door open, and turned towards it, staring at Ruby. Ruby and Red had very similar reactions to this.

They panicked.

"Fuck I thought we would have more time to think of something oh god she's gonna find out about me, they'll kill me for sure-"

'_Please don't be mad or disappointed, please don't be sad or mad or disappointed, please please please…'_

"Kid, your best option at this point is to jump out the window, just dash out and take Fenris with you and run-"

'_She's gonna say she was disappointed and then she'll give me that look and then-'_

The reaction of Yang was not what they expected. She rushed forward with a cry of "Ruby!" and swept her up into a hug, squeezing her close to her. "Where were you? Is everything alright? Did something happen? Are you ok?" she asked, barely pausing to breathe.

"Yang- Please, I need air…" Ruby said. Immediately, Yang let her go, and she dropped to the ground, gulping in air.

"Sorry Rubes, but I was just so worried!

"Well this is an interesting turn of events-Quick Ruby, say something to reassure her. It'll work to our advantage," Red whispered.

Ruby quietly reassured her sister, "I'm fine, Yang, Ozpin just wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. He let me off with just detention…for a week."

Yang winced. "Oof, that's rough sis. At least you're still in Beacon," she continued with a smile, "but I've got one question." She glanced up worriedly at the ears resting on Ruby's head. "How long have you had those?"

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a bit disappointing, I just wanted to post this so y'all know I'm not dead. **

**So over the course of time, I've discovered I am a very slow writer, as is apparent to all of you. I'm gonna stop making promises I can't keep, and instead own up to the fact that I'm just slow in general. Work, school and sports don't help, but that's no excuse. For any of you worrying that this won't be updated, I guarantee you, no matter how much time it takes me, I will finish this story, and I will continue working on it. **


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